Names of Saenuri Party members went to parliamentary candidates before April 11 poll


The membership list leak controversy at the ruling Saenuri Party escalated Wednesday upon new allegations that the data was also delivered to several former contenders in the party’s nomination ahead of the April general elections.

Party sources said the list of 2.2 million party members appears to have been handed over to about eight preliminary contenders, of whom two were eventually nominated to run in the parliamentary race. Of the two, one lost to a Democratic United Party rival, while the other won in an Ulsan constituency, the sources said.

“It is unknown whether the (list) was given in exchange for money, but it is said that those involved were close after having worked together for a long time at the party,” said Rep. Park Min-shik in charge of the party’s internal investigation of the case.

A ranking Saenuri official was arrested last weekend on charges of selling the confidential membership records to a text message service company.

The new development is expected to further complicate the burgeoning scandal for the party already staggering from conflict among the presidential hopefuls over the primary rules.

“There were no signs of (the preliminary candidates) having any similarities in terms of their faction such as being pro-Lee Myung-bak or pro-Park Geun-hye, or in terms of their regional base,” Park said.

He also played down the merit of having the members’ list during the nomination process.

“What realistic value would the list have, if even those who received the list were still dropped (in the nomination),” he said, adding the records containing the members’ names and addresses had less political usefulness than assumed.

Earlier this year, the Saenuri Party carried out a tough nomination process under the lead of former chairwoman Park Geun-hye in the run up to the April general elections. They dropped 25 percent of then-incumbent lawmakers based on their evaluations and popularity surveys. Nearly half of the nominees were also chosen under the strategic nomination by the party’s central organization.

Park said the party will continue to investigate the case, while waiting for the results of the on-going probe by the prosecution.

The non-Park members have been hurling blame at the leadership, and demand that Park take responsibility for the leak that they said could lead to potential nomination irregularities.

The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in charge of the investigation, in the meantime, reportedly found evidence that the arrested official also received kickbacks from a local broadcasting station for favors.

The official, identified by his surname Lee, is suspected of having sold the membership list for 4 million won after being dropped from the party’s nomination.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)